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Story
& Picture by : Jon Bugge.
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Before painting, Ouk must pray
to the Buddha.
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To visualize
the gods is something one would associate with the
goal of an esoteric practitioner, however it is
all in a days work for this 27 year-old. Ouk Chisen
is a pagoda painter. To be precise, he paints the
murals; through whose vibrant colours legends, tales
of kings and the Buddha come alive.
Originally from Phnom Penh, he now tours the country
painting pagodas. He is not sure when he first started
painting and drawing; "Since I was small I
have always enjoyed this type of thing." His
passion for art grew when he enrolled at the Royal
University of Fine Arts, in Phnom Penh. He spent
five years studying drawing and painting, graduating
in 1998. He remembers the days of a student and
says he was determined and would "practice
and practice until I became better and better."
He then managed to find work with a team of painters
who travel the country restoring or decorating pagodas.
One of the pagodas he is working on is in Sre Ambel
and is called Angkor Phnom Klong Temple. He has
just finished a huge painting depicting the Boddhi
tree, under which Buddha achieved enlightenment.
This spreads from behind the large seated Buddha
and covers his head and the wall behind. The attention
to detail is astounding: each leaf drawn and animals
within the tree are beautifully rendered. This part
of the murals, which one-day will cover the walls,
took twenty days to finish. The entire pagoda may
take an additional five months to complete. In one
year he will paint between three and four pagodas.
He sleeps in the |
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| pagoda and works
throughout the day. For extended periods he leaves his
parents and siblings and carries out his work. First the
scene is drawn on the wall and then the paint is applied.
He works and manages the four-man team, from a company
called Khmer Achievement. When asked what made him choose
this profession he simply puts it that: " It is good
for me and I enjoy it." The trademark luminescent
colours and detail speak tomes of his commitment and skill
as an artist. The depiction of the Buddha is not undertaken
lightly. Each time the Buddha must be prayed to. "Before
I begin I must pray to Buddha to ask for his help with
the work in hand." When asked if the art form itself
is a manifestation of religious devotion, Ouk replies:
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This classic scene took four
days to paint.
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" It
is similar to praying, through my work I must show
the Buddha as he was and praise him. It has to be
an inspiration to those who will visit to help them
understand and realize the truth of the Buddha."
It is a busy time for Ouk, he is working on four
pagodas, whilst more and more are being built or
restored. He seems to have work for many a year
to come.
Although from Phnom Penh he enjoys traveling the
country and seeing different places. There would
be enough work in the capital as he puts it: "There
are many new pagodas in Phnom Penh but it is not
for me to draw them all."
It is a simple life but one that seems to be filled
with a sense of enjoyment and achievement. To look
upon a pagoda when the walls are alive with tales
of old and of stories of the gods, knowing that
once the walls lay bare. To be able to represent
the gods solely in two dimensions, is to truly be
a painter of the gods. |
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Suite
B8, Regency Square, InterContinental Hotel, 294 Mao Tse Toung
Boulevard,
Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia.
Tel: (855) 23 213 133 Fax: (855) 23 213 033
E-mail:
editor@leisurecambodia.com |
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